DEMAEKI: Japan’s enduring contraption

With today’s reliance on apps for food delivery, it’s easy to think of it as an entirely modern phenomenon. In Japan however, food delivery, or demae (出前), goes back 300 years and is even depicted in a number of classic Ukiyo-e wood block paintings.

The introduction of the bicycle really kicked off food delivery and demae became an everyday occurrence. But with high demand and no good system for carrying dishes, delivery people were forced to stack up to 50 plates on their shoulder while riding - all while preserving the carefully arranged food presentation.

By the 20th century, soba deliveries in urban areas were making up a huge bulk of the demae around Japan. However, as cars started to fill the roads, the act of riding a bicycle around with one hand while balancing soba on a shoulder became too dangerous. Not only that, but the new motorized vehicles offered a much more efficient way to make deliveries.

Enter the DEMAEKI. Looking for a way to increase the efficiency and safety of deliveries, a soba shop owner first sketched out the idea in 1959. A complete amateur when it came to inventing, he eventually landed on a design that worked and within 3 years the contraption had spread throughout Tokyo.

The basic premise was for food to be loaded into a container called an okamochi (岡持) and then placed on a platform within the contraption. Three air filled springs above the food would then contract and expand as required to keep the okamochi perfectly level as the bike moved.

The device worked flawlessly and, by 1964, had become so ubiquitous across Japan that it was used in the Tokyo Olympic torch relay. During the event, a spare torch was needed at all times in case of emergency. Such was the trust in the device, that a spare torch followed the runners via DEMAEKI the whole way across Japan.

Into the 21st century, delivery vehicles are of course taking on new forms all the time. However, head to any downtown area in Tokyo and you’ll still see countless of the traditional Marushin models zooming by. Dreamt up on a whim and sketched on a piece of paper in 1959, it doesn’t look like the DEMAEKI is going anywhere soon.